The Most Infuriating Chapter Thus Far (Resurrection Ch 23)

As I sit here in this sticky dorm room, I have to write this depressing joke of a post because the idiots in court have gotten that girl to Siberia, which is fantastic, except not at all. It’s very Russian, I have to admit.

Ok so here it is: Freaking jury meets up and everything is looking up because the merchant would rather have mercy on everyone and honestly no one wants to put Maslova away.

Tisn’t the girl’s fault. She’s got mixed up in it . . . We must recommend her to mercy

Except possibly the foreman who has like some kind of iron fist, I don’t know he’s just one of those strict justice and no mercy people. Well, basically there are four questions they have to answer. Each of the accused have their own question of whether or not they poisoned Smelkov with the intent to kill and rob him. Bochkova has an extra one, the hag! Lol. Her extra is whether or not she actually did steal from him.

from my own camera

Personally, I’m with the merchant. “[I]t was all that red-eyed hag’s doing” (Tolstoy 79). But here’s what went down: Simon Kartinkin was found guilty of poisoning Smelkov. Bochova wasn’t, for that question, because there was no real proof of her being involved with the poisoning, but as to the robbery… GUILTY! Haha booyah.

But Maslova… oh dear. So when they tried to answer the question, they put that she was guilty of giving the powder, but they forgot something…

“They were all so tired, and so confused by the discussions, that nobody thought of adding that she was guilty of giving the powder, but without the intent to take life. Nekhlyudov was so excited that he did not notice this omission, and so the answers were written down in the form agreed upon and taken to the Court.”

p.83

Honestly, this trial was so mixed up that Tolstoy compares it to a case written by Rabelais, if that tells you anything. (If it doesn’t, read some of “Gargantua and Pantagruel,” I just did and it’s crayyyyy.)

So, she gets Siberia.

This means penal servitude in Siberia and she is innocent.

Nekhlyudov only finds this out when it’s a done deal, so of course he panics.